John Strait loads firewood into a mesh bag while participating in a work program run by Saratoga Bridges Monday afternoon. (ERIC JENKS/photos@saratogian.com)

SARATOGA SPRINGS -- A group of nine visitors from North Africa and the Middle East disembarked from a bus Monday afternoon at Saratoga Bridges to tour the facility, ask questions and learn more about improving the quality of life for people with developmental disabilities in their own countries.

Saratoga Bridges has 10 centers in the region offering a variety of employment and educational resources for individuals living with disabilities. Some participants are employed in the community while others work at Saratoga Bridges and get paid to do things like package firewood or Saratoga Potato Chips.

The visitors' trip to the United States was made possible by the International Visitor Leadership Program, an exchange program through the U.S. Department of State. They are a prestigious group of people whose careers revolve, in varying capacities, around assisting children and adults with disabilities. The countries they hail from are Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait, Morocco, Oman, Tunisia and Yemen.

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"There are no differences between working with disabled people in America and working with them in other countries," Sameera Al-Khateeb, the director general of Al Madar Center for Special Needs in Jordan, said.

Al-Khateeb assists disabled children and adults between the ages of 4 and 20. She said most are either very poor or orphans. She is interested in using this trip to learn more about financial support and coordination, especially between Arab countries.

Based on the questions asked by the visitors, the differences between disability programs in the United States and in the Middle East and North Africa are issues of funding and how long a person can be enrolled in a program.

The question of American funding for disability initiatives was raised at the start of the tour, and the answer provided by Saratoga Bridges Executive Director Valerie Muratori was an enlightening one.

About 50 years ago the only option for caring for a disabled person was to institutionalize them, and oftentimes they received poor care as a result, she said.

"Families sued the state, forcing the state to begin closing the institutions, and with that process, New York state changed the way they funded those with developmental disabilities," Muratori said.

Saratoga Bridges receives funding from the state and federal governments and local organizations.

A new media and computer training center was just set up in Saratoga Bridges' main facility. It provides computers with on-screen keyboards that predict words before they are fully typed and reads text back to the user. Individuals will use the new center for employment research and training, as well as for honing their communication skills.

An area of interest to the visitors was the fact that after individuals with developmental disabilities are enrolled in the program, they are enrolled for the rest of their life if they choose to be.

"We have individuals that have been in the same home for 30-plus years. That's a very long time," Muratori said.

A piece of advice she gave the visitors is to expand whatever services they offer in innovative ways.

"Thirty years ago, we just offered one program. Now, people can pick the program that is best for them," Muratori said. "In order to survive, you've got to be creative in your services and sensitive to your constituents."